Chain of Events
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Mary decides to keep her baby. Marshall wants to help her, setting off a chain of events they didn't expect. Spoilers for "Something A-Mish". Speculations and spoilers for season four. Mary/Marshall


**Disclaimer**: I don't own In Plain Sight and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note: **This idea wouldn't leave me alone after I saw the promo for 4.07, in which Marshall referred to Mary's baby as "theirs". If Mary decides to keep the baby, I hope she and Marshall do end up raising it together. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Mary Shannon hated being pregnant. Between the morning sickness, the coffee hate, her random craving for pie, and the other changes in her body, everything was going haywire. And all because there was a fetus taking up residence in her uterus.<p>

She had thought of giving the baby up for adoption, but for some reason, Mary kept changing her mind. The fact that Marshall kept calling it "their" baby had a little to do with it, but not much. She didn't want to think about why. Besides, he was still dating Abigail. Mary couldn't think about that even if she wanted to.

Then, the three of them were eating lunch one day when Marshall accidentally slipped in front of his girlfriend. "I am not going to paint the nursery yet. And I am especially not going to paint it pink or blue. It's so stupid to go with that crap. My kid is going to be whoever it wants to be."

"I agree with you on that, Mare. But our kid needs some kind of color in his or her room." Marshall didn't realize what he said until Abby chimed in.

"Excuse me. Our kid? I thought the father was Mary's ex-husband." She was suddenly very confused and angry at her boyfriend.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Abby. Marshall told me that because we're together every day, we're having a baby. Not just me." Mary hoped she had saved her partner, but she was pretty sure she hadn't.

She was right. Abby cornered him later that night, after he got home from work. "Marshall, are you in love with Mary?"

"What? No! Why would you say that?"

"Marshall, tell me the truth. You're referring to her baby with another man as yours!"

He tried to come up with a way to deny his girlfriend's accusations, but couldn't. Marshall sighed and then gave up. "Fine. Yes, I'm in love with Mary. And yes, this kid is pretty much mine. I'm around all the time. Mark wants nothing to do with the baby."

"Then we're over. I'm sorry." Abby turned around and walked out. And instead of feeling sad over it, Marshall actually felt relieved.

He went along with Mary to her twenty week ultrasound a few weeks later. Mary had decided to learn the baby's sex since she didn't want to wait the entire pregnancy to find out. It just seemed stupid to her to wait.

"So, I think it's a girl. Mary doesn't care what we have," Marshall told the nurse as she prepared to start up the ultrasound.

"Well, why should I care? It's either a boy or a girl. That's it." Mary wasn't excited about much during this pregnancy, which was driving him crazy, but he hoped that changed soon.

"Congratulations. It's a girl." The OB/GYN printed out copies of the ultrasound and handed them to Mary and Marshall.

"So, I'm having a girl." Mary couldn't wrap her head around it. She still couldn't believe she was knocked up, actually.

"We're having a girl."

"Fine. We're having a girl. My mother and Brandi are going to be thrilled. They're not putting her in dresses, though. I'm not allowing it."

"It's fine with me, Mare." Marshall smiled at her.

Mary winced as the baby kicked her in the kidneys. "Hey you? The one in my uterus? Can you stop that? I don't appreciate being kicked that hard in my kidneys."

He was amused. "She doesn't understand you."

"I don't care. You try being kicked in the kidneys. Plus, I have to go to the bathroom what feels like every ten minutes. Speaking of which, I'll be right back." She rushed to the bathroom.

"How's she doing?" Stan was worried about Mary. It seemed like she wasn't exactly dealing with this pregnancy, even though she had decided to keep the baby.

"She's okay. You know, besides the numerous bathroom trips and the mood swings. And the cravings. She cannot stop eating pie. I'm sick of pie. I never want to see it again." After Mary gave birth, he was never going to eat pie again.

Mary returned from the bathroom, effectively ending the conversation between Stan and Marshall. She stared at them suspiciously for a few minutes before starting a game of Solitaire. Mary was on desk duty and that was pretty much all she did anymore. It was boring. Boring and somewhat fun, actually. She just wanted to be out in the field again, however. It was killing her to be stuck on desk duty like this.

Marshall came over for a movie the next night. He and Mary had been having movie nights for the past few months just for something to do. It was actually enjoyable. Marshall pretended not to notice that Mary kept falling asleep on his shoulder. He didn't mind being her pillow. It was actually quite nice. He felt wanted.

Mary kept shooting her best friend glances as the movie continued. She was determined to stay awake the entire time tonight. She wanted to see the whole movie for once. The pregnancy making her this exhausted was driving her crazy. She had fallen asleep at her desk once, and no one had woken her up.

Marshall noticed the glances, but didn't say anything. He wondered what Mary was thinking, but didn't want to push her. She would tell him when she was ready. He would wait impatiently until Mary did.

At the credits rolled on the movie, Mary finally decided to just come out and tell Marshall she was in love with him. It couldn't hurt, right? He was referring to the baby as "theirs" to every single person they met. He was attending Lamaze classes with her. (And honestly, she was going to get the epidural. Mary wanted a pain free labor.)

"Mare, what's up? You've been acting weird all night." Marshall was tired of waiting for her to reveal what was on her mind.

Mary debated on whether or not she should tell him. She had only recently realized her feelings for Marshall, and didn't know what to do with them. What if she ruined their friendship? Mary didn't want that. But in the end, she decided to just say it and get her feelings out in the open. "I'm in love with you." She stared at the ground, unwilling to see his reaction. Mary didn't want to be rejected, especially by Marshall of all people.

But luckily for her, Marshall laughed. He lifted her chin up. "Mary Shannon, I'm in love with you, too. I have been for a long time. In fact, it's why Abby left me."

"I thought Abby left you because she didn't want to be in a relationship."

"I lied. She broke up with me because I referred to the baby as ours. Abby also corrected guessed my feelings for you." He beamed at her and then kissed her. It turned into a full out make out session within minutes, interrupted only by the baby's incessant kicking.

Mary reluctantly pulled away from him, irrationally annoyed. "Hey, I'm trying to enjoy this, you little brat. Can you please be quiet for a few minutes?" There was a slight pause and then the baby kicked again, this time pretty hard.

"I'm pretty sure she did that on purpose. She's already like you." Marshall couldn't believe he had finally admitted his feelings for Mary. And that she felt the same way. Plus, they were going to raise a baby together.

Marshall moved into Mary's house two weeks later. Although they hadn't been together for long, they had been friends for a lot longer. And it didn't make sense to raise a baby together when they weren't even living in the same place. A lot of people thought they were moving too fast, but Mary and Marshall didn't care.

"I'm glad you're here." Mary kissed her boyfriend and then ran off to the kitchen to find something to eat.

"I'm glad to be here." Marshall really was. He hadn't been this happy in a long time. He was with the woman he loved and they were having a baby in three months. It was exciting.

The papers that allowed Marshall to adopt the baby came in the mail only a few days later. Mark had signed away his parental rights without a fight. He understood that Marshall could be there for Mary and the baby. He couldn't and didn't want to be a father.

Mary complained of being hot all the time. She had the air conditioner cranked, which drove Marshall crazy. As a result of the air conditioner being on all the time, he was freezing. His only reprieve was work, and oddly enough, outside. Both Jinx and his mother informed him that it was normal, but he didn't care. He couldn't wait until the baby came so the house could be warm again.

"We need to discuss baby names." Mary just wanted to pick a name and be done with it, but she knew Marshall wasn't going to go for that.

"How about Lola?"

"That's a no. Sorry. I don't like it."

"Melinda?"

"No."

"Ashley?"

"God no. Come up with some better names, Marshall."

"Melanie!"

"I said better names, not that!" Mary glared at her boyfriend.

"Well, then what do you suggest?" Marshall had a feeling every name he suggested was going to be shot down. He was right.

"Her name isn't going to be too girly. That much I can tell you. And it's not going to be stupid either."

"That narrows our choices so much, Mare." He was starting to get a headache. Picking a baby name was going to be pretty hard.

"I know. We need to come up with a perfect name. One that I don't hate. And that you don't hate either." Mary beamed at him and then headed towards the living room.

Mary was in her eighth month when she started pulling away from everyone. No one understood why she did. "What do you think's wrong?" Marshall questioned Jinx.

She shrugged. "You have to ask her yourself. It could be just the pregnancy. She won't tell me. Believe me, I tried. A lot."

"Mare, you want to tell me what's up?" Marshall had cornered her in their bedroom before they went to sleep.

"What do you mean?" She was purposely trying to get out of this conversation. Mary didn't want to tell anyone what was bothering her. She felt stupid about it.

"Mary, don't play dumb. Tell me. Now."

She sighed. "Fine. I'm terrified about everything, okay? Labor is going to hurt like a bitch. What if I can't change a diaper? We can't even come up with any names that we agree on! What if I fuck this kid up?"

Marshall sighed in relief. He had actually been expecting a Mary freak-out. Sooner than this, but still. He knew how to calm her down. "Hey, look at me."

"I don't want to."

"Mary, look at me."

She sighed and reluctantly looked up. "What?"

"Listen to me. These fears? Are completely normal. You can get an epidural. You know that. And we're learning how to change diapers. So what if we mess it up a few times? We're going to be new parents. And we'll come up with a name eventually. We still have a month left. The baby doesn't need a name right away. And you know what? All parents fuck up their kids in some way. It's just a fact of life."

Mary laughed despite herself. "Thanks," she murmured.

"You're welcome. I'm here anytime for you to freak out on." He meant it too. Marshall was going to be there for any other freak-out that Mary had.

Three weeks later, they were eating dinner at Brandi and Peter's when the first sharp pain hit. "Are you okay?" Brandi was worried about her sister. Mary had been acting weird all night.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She suspected she was in labor, but didn't want to say anything. The back pain had been a constant all day, and that was an early sign of labor.

Within the hour, it was obvious to everyone that Mary was having contractions. "Come on, let's go to the hospital." Marshall was panicking, but didn't want to tell her that. He needed to calm for his girlfriend.

"The contractions aren't five minutes apart yet. I'll go when that happens or if my water breaks. Whichever happens first."

Three hours later, they were at the hospital and Mary had her epidural. Eight hours after that, with Marshall by her side, she delivered a seven pounds, four ounce screaming newborn daughter.

She shifted uncomfortably in her hospital bed and smiled when the baby let out a coo. She had only known her little girl for three hours, but she already loved her more than she ever thought possible. Being a mom was nice so far.

"So, we still need a name. I would like to tell our friends and family about her instead of calling her Baby Girl Shannon."

"Baby Girl Mann."

"Wait, what?" Marshall hadn't been expecting that.

"You're her father. I've already decided the baby's middle name is Shannon, so she still gets my last name. Still undecided on a first name, though, so she's currently Baby Girl Shannon Mann." Mary wanted her to have a name, too.

"What about Isabelle?"

"Isabelle?" Mary thought about the name for a few minutes, and decided she liked it. She told her boyfriend so.

"So we're agreed. Her name is Isabelle Shannon Mann." Marshall loved the name.

"We've agreed." Marshall leaned down and kissed both of them before heading out to the waiting room to tell everyone the good news.

"Your daddy is very dorky, but we love him anyway, Belle." Mary beamed at Marshall made his way back in.

"I missed both of you." He sat down in the uncomfortable hospital chair and took his daughter from Mary's arms.

The three of them were a family now. There were going to be some bumps in the road, but none of them were serious.

Mary and Marshall ended up eloping in Vegas during a case when their daughter was thirteen months old. Both of their families were angry they missed the wedding, but happy for them.

It had started in the first place all because Brandi had decided to reunite Mary and her ex-husband, setting off a chain of events that would change Mary and Marshall's lives forever.


End file.
